Who Oppose Reunification of Korea?
Young Kim
Lee Wha Rang, August 21, 2000
http://www.kimsoft.com/
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Even before the eyes of the Korean people have replenished the tears shed
during the August 15th reunion of long-lost mothers, fathers, brothers and
sisters, dark clouds of anti-reunification threaten to pour cold water on
the nascent North-South reconciliation.
During the recent meeting with South Korea's media heads, Kim Jong Il
lamented that some of his Party leaders tried to block his peace initiative
with Kim Dae Jung. He implied that Kim Il Sung's old cronies are still in
power and the Western notion that Kim Jong Il is the absolute dictator of
North is far from the fact.
Kim Il Sung's brother (Kim Young Ju), his widow and her children are still
in power. In addition, some of Kim Il Sung's old partisan comrades are still
alive and kicking. Kim Jong Il is a devout traditionalist and refuses to be
disrespectful to his elders. Kim Jung Il admitted that these Party cronies
give him headaches but he would overcome.
The Party elders worried that the young Kim Jong Il, a good-natured,
trusting fellow, may be duped into giving out the store to the crafty South
Korea politico. Kim Jong Il's jovial unrehearsed ramblings gave the cadres
scares of their life.
Kim Dae Jung has his own headaches in South Korea. The main opposition party
led by Lee Hoe Chang seems to oppose just about everything Kim Dae Jung
wants to do. In fact Kim's foes very nearly succeeded in sabotaging the
August 15th reunion. Certain press media in Seoul published a statement by
an "expert' who claimed that North was trading separated families for money.
The North Korean delegation was offended and wanted to cancel the reunion.
Kim Dae Jung promised Kim Jung Il that he would repatriate long-term
unconverted North Korean prisoners by August 15th. But Kim Dae Jung could
not deliver and the aging prisoners are yet to be returned. Anti-unification
forces are once again trying to derail this agreement between Kim Dae Jung
and Kim Jung Il. The aging prisoners number less than 100 but their return
has been the holy grail for the Party cadres and their continued detention
by South will surely help restore the Party influence at the cost of Kim
Jung Il's authority.
North Korea wants all North Korean prisoners and their families, if they so
wish, returned. However, South Korea plans to return only 60 or so of the
prisoners who have remained royal to North and excludes those who have
signed a conversion document as well as the family members from South who
want to go north with their returning fathers, husbands and sons.
In particular, North Korea wants the "Last Partisan" heroin returned. The
heroin is now an old dying woman and North wants to honor her before she
passes away. South Korea claims that she is one of those who have signed a
conversion document and so she is not in the group Kim Jong Il and Kim Dae
Jung discussed. It is feared that the prisoners on the returnee list may opt
to refuse repatriation unless all of them are repatriated together. Such a
move may derail the peace process, which will be a sweet music to the ears
of those who oppose unification.
Lee Hoe Chang and other opponents oppose the prisoner repatriation on ground
that North holds many South Korean prisoners and so they should be exchanged
in a two-way swap. North Korea denies that it is holding any South Korean
prisoners. Whether North holds any South Korean POW's or not, this POW issue
has been raised many times in the past and it is one of the issues that
cannot be resolved. Why then raise this old issue again now?
It is true that during the Korean War, some 100,000 South Korean troops were
captured (many in fact defected). Most of these were allowed to return home
or join the People's Army. North Korea had placed about 10,000 South Koreans
in POW camps and 8,333 survivors were repatriated when the armistice was
signed in 1953.
The former South Korean troops in the People's Army were given the same
rights as North Koreans. They were allowed to marry and raise families in
North Korea. They were given jobs in accordance with their abilities: they
became professors, engineers, writers, painters, Party cadres, army
officers, farmers and coal miners.
During the Korean War, Rhee Syngman freed tens of thousands of North Korean
POWs and conscripted them into South Korean army. Their fate was no
different from those South Korean soldiers in the People's Army. These
former Communist soldiers were allowed to marry and raise families in South
Korea.
Should these be swapped for the former South Korean POW's in North Korea?
Such a swap would entail forced separation of tens of thousands of families
in gross violation of human rights and will meet with world-wide
condemnation. Any politico pushing for such a move will be inviting
self-destruction.
I presume Lee Hoe Chang is smarter than to propose such a swap?
Lee Hoe Chang wants the 'kidnapped' South Koreans returned. Many of the
North Koreans visiting Seoul during the August 15 exchange visits were in
fact on the list of 'kidnappees'. These South Koreans went North on their
own will -- they were not kidnapped. Many South Koreans served in the
People's Volunteers Army during the Korean War and opted to go north for
whatever reason. If they wanted, they could have easily deserted during the
retreat north (good many did desert indeed), but they opted to stay with the
retreating army.
Lee Hoe Chang wants the 'kidnapped' fishermen returned. During and after the
war, the US spy agencies used fishing boats to wage spy and guerrilla war on
North Korea. North Korea, too, used fishing boats for covert actions.
Fishermen from both sides were targets for recruitment into spy war. Some
North Korean fishermen worked for the Americans and some South Korean
fishermen worked for North - and some worked for both sides. It is likely
that the 'kidnapped' fishermen were involved in spy activities either for
North and/or the US.
Those who had spied for the US were executed and those who had worked for
North were settled as North Korean citizens. It will be silly for North to
disclose these agents just as it will be stupid for South and the US to
expose their spies.
Both Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il have opponents who are lurking around
waiting for an opportunity to derail the peace process and restore the Cold
War climate in Korea. Kim Jong Il wanted the reunion planes take the direct
route between Seoul and Pyongyang, but the cooler heads rejected Kim's order
for fear of 'accidental' shoot-down of the planes by some dissident forces
from either side or the US militarists.
The US Repulic Party's platform publicly opposes peace in Korea, and if
George Bush is elected, the US may block North-South reconciliation. The
Bush administration will support South Korea's opposition parties and may
instigate pro-US militarists into military coup and assassination of Kim Dae
Jung and Kim Jong Il.
Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il alone cannot reunite Korea. They need the
support of all Koreans in South, North and abroad. They need support of the
military, the press, the academia, the students, the retired and the common
working people of both Koreas. The reunification movement will become
strong, someday, enough to go on with or without Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong
Il. But the movement at present is so weak and it can be stopped easily.
Let us stand behind Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il, and fight off the evil
forces of anti-unification. Let us work together without rest until the
peace movement becomes a self-sustaining chain reaction that no power on
Earth can stop.